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How Did The Whitlam Government Reform Australia

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Edward Gough Whitlam was the prime minister of Australia in 1972-1975. Whitlam at prime minister was a very controversial topic as although he had many successes one in creating medibank and many people that liked him, he also had many failures and people that disliked him.

The primary achievement of the Whitlam Government in this area was the creation of Medibank, Australia’s national health insurance system. The system would provide free access to hospitals and a range of other medical services. Before Medibank, the government provided tax concessions to encourage adoption of private health insurance. However, these arrangements were grossly inequitable, with high-income earners paying less than low-income earners for the same health insurance …show more content…

Aged and invalid pensions, widow’s pensions, unemployment benefits and sickness benefits were all raised significantly, and the means test was abolished for those aged over 70 on the age pension. These changes led to a substantial improvement of the financial position of welfare beneficiaries. Whilst these increases should be viewed within the context of the level of inflation in the economy at the time, they do constitute a significant increase in real terms.

In 1973, the Whitlam Government launched the Australian Assistance Plan, which was a program where they funded grassroots and social welfare organisations. 37 regional councils, who allocated the priorities, administered the funding and made decisions as to how money could be best spent. The funding was distributed to community centres, volunteer groups, resource centres, and programs designed to provide assistance to support people with specific needs, including women, children, young people, disabled people, the elderly, and new migrants. This new model of delivering social welfare services was praised by organisations such as the Australian Council of Social Services, which supported the power it gave to grassroots organisations, and the promotion of community participation in the delivery of social

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